i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: president trump warns russia to ‘get ready‘ for missile strikes against syria, in retaliation for a suspected chemical attack on civilians. an algerian military plane crashes near the capital killing 257 people on board. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: the boss of facebook, mark zuckerberg, admits to us lawmakers that his own personal data was compromised in the cambridge analytica breach. despite strict new rules it's still happening — we report on the illegal trade of blood in china. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning.

it is 7:00am in singapore, midnight in london, and 7:00pm in washington, where president trump has warned russia to get ready for missile strikes against syria, in retaliation for a suspected chemical attack on civilians. it is not clear when the military action might take place. and now britain's prime minister, theresa may, is expected to ask her cabinet to approve uk participation in action led by the us and france. the white house press secretary said all options are still on the table. here is our north america editorjon sopel. they're getting out of harm's way. from surviving the hell of eastern ghouta and the alleged chemical weapons attack, these refugees have buses to take them away, but to a still uncertain future. translation: we lived through very difficult times in eastern ghouta, especially the final three days in douma, when the regime carried out its attacks on civilian neighbourhoods and used chlorine gas, which caused suffocation among civilians.

and it's notjust refugees. according to many accounts, syrian soldiers are on the move as well, temporarily abandoning barracks ahead of any us—led attack. the threat of military action brought this warning from one of russia's most senior diplomats in the region. translation: if there is a strike by the americans, then we point to the declarations made by president vladimir putin and the russian military leadership that the missiles will be downed, and even the sources from which the missiles were fired. but those comments have the effect of goading the president, and this incendiary tweet. and at the defence department, they're preparing for all eventualities. we're still assessing the intelligence, ourselves and our allies, we're still working on this. we stand ready to provide military options if they're appropriate as the president determines. although a slightly more

conciliatory tone later from the president, when he said... a year ago, the us military launched a one—off cruise missile attack on a syrian airfield. it seems as though the us is preparing for something more extensive and more sustained this time, and with other nations involved. the ayes to the right, 272, the noes to the left, 285. five years ago, when barack 0bama was president, plans for military action by the us fell apart after the british parliament voted against such a move. but it looks as though this time around, theresa may is giving her american counterpart the nod there'll be no such impediments. all the indications are that the syrian regime was responsible, and we will be working with our closest allies on how we can ensure that those responsible are held to account, and how we can prevent and deter

the humanitarian catastrophe coming from the use of chemical weapons in the future. the strident language we're hearing from both sides is, frankly, more akin to two heavyweight boxers trash talking at the weigh—in before a bout. but leaving the words to one side, there are the wider strategic questions. what is american policy now toward syria? does it support regime change? does it want further involvement or to pull out? 0n those questions, we're none the wiser. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. paul ryan — the speaker of the us house of representatives and the third most powerful republican — has announced he will not run for re—election in november. his departure follows a wave of retirements of republican members of the house, which throws the contest wide open for a number of seats in the upcoming mid—term elections. here's jane 0'brien.

paul ryan is probably one of the few people who says when he wants to spend more time with his family, most people do believe in. that does not alter the fact that the timing of this announcement is absolutely terrible for republicans because not only does it leave wisconsin wide—open free democratic challenge it also risks sending the song extra august signal yet that the republicans are in real danger of losing the house to the democrats. if that happens, then president trump could be in deep trouble because they have already accused him of obstruction ofjustice and that could strengthen their hand if they choose to go down the political process of impeachment. also this hou, yulia skripal — the russian woman who was poisoned together with her father in the uk last month — has issued a statement saying she does not currently wish to meet russian officials.

ms skripal said she wanted to stress that nobody was speaking for her, orfor herfather, who remains seriously ill in hospital. prosecutors in los angeles are reviewing a sexual assault case against the actor kevin spacey following an investigation by the sheriff's department. more than 30 men have made allegations against spacey. a spokeswoman for the actor has declined to comment on the matter. the us attorney general has taken a tough line on immigration enforcement as he visited a border sheriffs' conference in new mexico. jeff sessions called for a crackdown on drug smuggling from mexico to the us. his remarks come less than a week after president trump ordered national guard troops to protect the border. the prime minister of bangladesh, sheikh hasina, has abolished job quotas for government posts following nationwide protests, led largely by university students. the protesters had argued the quota system was prejudiced. the protests gain momentum on sunday when police used rubber bullets and tear gas to break up a big rally. take a look at this.

it's a bronze water vessel, a 2000—year—old antique that was taken when british and french troops looted the emperors‘ summer palace in 1860. it has just been sold at auction for nearly $600,000 despite a plea from the chinese government not to go ahead. an algerian military plane has crashed near the capital killing 257 people on board. state television is reporting that it came down shortly after take off. there are reports some people were killed on the ground. sophie long reports. the burnt—out fuselage of the ilyushin military transport plane that had been carrying more than 250 people. it had been bound for bechar, a town in south—west algeria close to the border with morocco. but shortly after take—off, something caused it to plummet and to crash into a field.

translation: we heard a big explosion, and my neighbour and i drove here. there was very heavy smoke, then we realised it was an aeroplane accident. when we arrived at the spot itself, we found piles of bodies. it's a disaster, an absolute disaster. among those who lost their lives were the plane's ten crew. most of the passengers were military personnel. but algeria‘s defence ministry said some of the soldiers‘ families had been travelling with them. there have been no reports of any survivors. algeria‘s army chief has ordered an urgent investigation to find out what happened, what caused this military plane to crash with such catastrophic consequences. sophie long, bbc news. the lawyer representing two reuters journalists detained in myanmar says he‘s still confident

they‘ll be released. on wednesday a judge rejected an appeal for charges to be dropped against the pair, who face 14 years in prison if they are convicted of receiving secret documents from police officers. they were investigating killings carried out by the burmese army at the time of their arrest. 0ur myanmar correspondent nick beake has been following the case in yangon. this is the place where the reuters journalist ordeal began. they first appeared in court here back in december and they have been held in prison ever since. we now know that they will be back again for more appearance is because thejudge has thrown out the latest effort to have them set free. now while wa lone and kyaw soe 0o protested their innocence as they were driven away they appealed forjustice. the soldiers they were investigating have now been sentenced to ten years eachin have now been sentenced to ten years each in prison for the murder of rohingya men in rakhine. the journalists still face a 14 years in

jail under the colonial era law. as you can imagine, their wives and family were distraught. they were hoping to their release. what are the chances of freedom now? i managed to speak to one of the lawyers for the journalists. do you think your clients will be freed?m my opinion i took this case because i believe in them. so i firmly believe that they will be released. if there is a fair trial. will there beafair if there is a fair trial. will there be a fair trial? many people are sceptical that this is a fair process. many believe it is journalism in the dock, notjust these two young boom is reported. it particularly poignant that yesterday was that wa lone‘s 32nd birthday. friends bought him a cake and they we re

friends bought him a cake and they were hoping to see him at home and a free man. but there was no celebration. instead, he and his collea g u es celebration. instead, he and his colleagues spend another night in prison with no obvious end in sight to there ordeal. the founder of facebook, mark zuckerberg, has revealed he was among the millions of users, whose data was shared with the british firm cambridge analytica. he made the disclosure during his second day of questioning by law makers in washington. he also rejected claims that users don‘t have enough control over their data, on the world‘s largest social media network. here‘s our media editor amol rajan. seconds out, round two. mark zuckerberg‘s second testimony in as many days promised to make amends for the first. yesterday, meandering questions and blatant ignorance about how facebook actually works led to a poor show by congress. today had to be better, and there were flash points. let me ask you. is it true that facebook offered to provide what i guess you refer to as dedicated campaign embeds to both of the presidential campaigns?

congressman, i can quickly respond to the first point... were there embeds? were there embeds in the two campaigns? congressman... yes or no? time and again, the rigid structure inhibited lawmakers. with just four minutes each, they often overlapped and failed to pin him down. where does privacy rank as a corporate value for facebook? congresswoman, giving people control of their information and how they want to set their privacy is foundational to the whole service. it's not just an add—on feature or something we have to comply with. the reality is, if you have a photo... if you just think about this in your day—to—day life... no, i can‘t let you filibuster right now. the attacks grew more pointed and personal. the 33—year—old billionaire was accused repeatedly of being, in effect, a spy. you‘re collecting medical data, correct, on people that

on are on the internet whether they are facebook users or not, right? congresswoman, yes, we collected some data... and you‘re collecting, you watch where we go. facebook also gathers the data about where we travel. isn‘t that correct? congresswoman, everyone has control over how that works. i‘m going to get to that, but yes, you are. would you just acknowledge that yes, facebook is? that‘s the business you‘re in, gathering data and aggregating the data? congresswoman, i disagree with that characterisation. then came a revelation. was your data included in the data sold to the malicious third parties? your personal data? yes. it was. for now, the significance of any mistakes zuckerberg made remains unclear. through nearly ten hours of grilling, he kept his composure. i don‘t suppose you want to hang around for another round of questions? just kidding. zuckerberg‘s interrogation generated over $17 billion for shareholders. that‘s around one and a half billion dollars an hour,

not bad, even for silicon valley. the past 48 hours were a missed opportunity for american lawmakers that showed why global governance for the tech giants is so hard. regulators are inherently parochial, whereas the companies are international. and frankly, there is often a generation gap that is between politicians and the precocious entrepreneurs of silicon valley. gridlock in congress means new data laws coming from brussels next month rather than washington. that should worry zuckerberg most. but he‘ll sleep easier tonight. also on the programme: we look at the illegal blood trade in china. despite strict new regulations, it appears to be continuing. pol pot, one of the century‘s

greatest mass murderers, is reported to have died of natural causes. he and the khmer rouge movement he led we re and the khmer rouge movement he led were responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million cambodians. there have been violent protests in indonesia, where playboy has gone on sale for the first time. traditionalist muslim leaders have expressed disgust. the magazine‘s officers have been attacked in its editorial staff have gone into hiding. it was clear that paul's only contest was with the clock, and as for a sporting legacy, paula radcliffe's competitors will be chasing her new best time for years to come. quite quietly, but cricket and quicker, she seemed just to slide away under the surface and disappear —— quicker and quicker. this is newsday on the bbc.

i‘m sharanjit leyl in singapore. i‘m babita sharma in london. our top stories: president trump has tweeted a warning to syria that missiles were coming, in retaliation for a suspected chemical attack on civilians. a military plane has crashed in algeria, killing 257 people on board. the holders of the european cup, real madrid, have qualified for the last four of this year‘s champions league competition with a dramatic goal in the final minute of their quarter—final. this came after the referee awarded a controversial penalty for a foul on real‘s lucas vazquez. find more on that and all our sports stories at bbc.com/sport. let‘s take a look at some front pages from around the world. the south china morning post reports on the rise of the robots, in the local banking sector at least. apparently a completely unstaffed

branch has opened in shanghai. it uses artificial intelligence and virtual reality to serve clients. the arab news has a story about themselves on the front page, which they are calling another milestone. they want to become the first gender—balanced newsroom in saudi arabia. they have given themselves two years to achieve the goal. the china daily includes a very fishy prediction about the so called food of the czars. the world‘s largest caviar producer is based in zhejiang province, and they believe these delicacies will be a major hit on chinese dinner plates. now, babita, what stories are sparking discussions online? yes, this happened on bbc breakfast in the uk on wednesday morning. presenter mike bushell was attempting to interview english

swimmers at the commonwealth games on australia‘s gold coast. but he had to abandon the interview after his microphone and sound pack stopped working properly, after he stumbled on a step. that clip and his comedy of errors has gone viral. let‘s get more now on our top story, the possible military action by the us, france and uk in syria. president donald trump has tweeted that russia should get ready for missiles to be fired at its ally syria, in response to an alleged chemical attack near damascus on saturday. with me isjulian taylor, head of crisis management at aon asia. we know this is not the first time they have struck syria, there was an airfield last year which was struck at this time we have the russians in the mix, they are threatening to shoot down any potential us missiles. so how much is the situation likely to escalate if that does happen? you‘ve got the us, the uk, france on one side and you‘ve

got the russians and the iranians on the other. well, we look at these situations from a us perspective, in terms of what problems they face as a result of this, and here you‘ve got a situation where there are so many protagonists. you always taking your eye off the ball in terms of the success that has been achieved eliminating or reducing the threat of isis, so what does this mean in terms of the isis problem re—emerging as the eyes are taken away from that particular problem and turned towards a slightly different event. what does it mean for the business in the region? aviation is an obvious one where flying across the middle east, we have had the problems in the ukraine some years ago where the russians we re some years ago where the russians were involved in the taking down of an airliner. is that a concern for the aviation industry? probably. i think the impact of this is so diverse and potentiallyjust going to get worse and worse. you talk

about isis, so—called islamic states, and you know, the concerns that are destabilised syria may potentially see the rise of those kinds of factions. so what happens thenif kinds of factions. so what happens then if this does go ahead and happen? are we all in a much more dangerous world as a result?” happen? are we all in a much more dangerous world as a result? i think so. dangerous world as a result? i think so. i think the reality is that if the worst were to happen, the americans go in and the russians react, a vacuum is created for not just the rebel groups, which i think is the ultimate goal of the americans, it has always been a game to allow the rebels to seize power and undermine assad, but the potential for isis to rise up again, the if you are taking out these military bases, who is to say that somebody who has a slightly more worrying goal in mind won‘t go in and take control of these as it can use them more widely against targets

in the west and here in asia. certainly the notion of a destabilised syria could be a very bad one, in some of these worst case scenario is that you talk about. now, if we take a look at the impact, potentially, the second cold war, because of course you have got russians in the mix, a huge controversy around them in the last few weeks and months. so what happens then? well, i think the voice of reason appears to be president xijinping, actually, who says the one thing we should be avoiding is going into the second cold war. it is interesting the chinese are taking such a balanced stance, so good for them. i think that the world is a constantly changing landscape. we havejust released out 2018 risk map and on that you can see that countries like russia and america and countries involved in that conflict are given

certain ratings. it is literally only today that that is relevant. tomorrow or within the next 2a, 48 hours, who knows what the americans will have done in syria. so that landscape will have changed again, and we are aware of that. not enough people donate blood in china, and for decades there has been a black market in the illegal trade of blood. new rules which were introduced at the end of march are supposed to put an end to a system which allows people to give blood for friends or relatives. but, as our china correspondent robin brant reports, the buying and selling of blood seems to be continuing. this is how much medicine you have at home when you are 31 and recovering from cancer. her immune system is week after chemotherapy to fight leukaemia, but that wasn‘t the only battle. she had to find blood. china has a chronic blood shortage,

and even though she had donated in the past, which should have given her a guarantee of blood, the hospital had none. so gao had to buy it. in fact, it was her mum who went out to do the deal. she was emotional as she described the last few years. it is not hard to find blood traders in china. the bbc spoke to this man outside a donor centre in shanghai. he told us he pays people to donate, then he sells their certificates to needy patients, which they exchange for blood. it is illegal, and the government banned it last month. it is almost two weeks now since the rules changed so we came back to the same blood centre in shanghai and we have been driving around for half an hour. and look who we have seen

hanging around outside. the same man, this time in red, in the same place. 0nly man, this time in red, in the same place. only about 1% of chinese give blood. china had a reciprocal system. people could donate, they earn credit, they could give that to friends and family. but that‘s what gave rise to the blood traders, so the government banned it last month. ina the government banned it last month. in a village on the edge of beijing this month, that is good news. this woman has a rare blood type which she discovered when she was pregnant. she thinks an end to people shopping around for blood will encourage more donations. but that requires a change in culture, and gao doesn‘t have time to wait for that. she wants the old system back, because she says friends, family, even the blood traders, kept her alive. you have been watching newsday. stay with us. coming up: we will be taking a look at china‘s ride—hailing app didi chuxing, which could be on the streets of mexico very soon.

and, before we go, take a look at these dramatic pictures from tignes, in the french alps, an area popular with skiers. this avalanche shows sheets of snow sliding down from a mountain onto the road below, and they were captured by a somewhat alarmed passer—by, who stayed put to film it. thankfully, there were no injuries. stay with bbc world news. hello. there is a change on the way. something brighter and significantly warmer in ourforecasts, something brighter and significantly warmer in our forecasts, but that change will be slow, will be gradual. so on thursday, for many, it is going to be another cloudy day. mostly dry, though. you can see from the satellite picture what is going on. we put an area of low pressure to the south, areas of cloud being flung around it and this little area of slightly thicker cloud here has been producing some

outbreaks of patchy rain and drizzle which will continue to drift northwards and westwards during thursday morning. generally we start the day with a lot of cloud, so mist murk and drizzle, some hill fog, and most murk and drizzle, some hill fog, and m ost pla ces murk and drizzle, some hill fog, and most places will stay disappointingly grey as the day goes on. but they will be exceptions. here is a closer look at thursday afternoon. the north—west of scotla nd afternoon. the north—west of scotland should do very nicely for sunshine. she could well get the 12 degrees there in stornoway. more cloud lapping onto the coast of aberdeenshire and down in the north—east england, with some spots of rain and drizzle. quite cloudy, as will much of north—west england, the midlands and wales. but for the south—west of wales, certainly the south—west of wales, certainly the south—west of wales, certainly the south—west of england, should see something a bit brighter, and things may brighten up a little bit towards the south—east as well later in the day. an enduring thursday evening some showers are likely to trundling towards the south—east of england. could be the odd rumble of thunder with these. they will then edge northwards as we go through the night into the early hours of friday, with all that cloud around, and the misty, murky, drizzly conditions. it is not going to get cold. five to nine degrees the

overnight lows. now, fridayweather set up is essentially the same one we have had for much of this week. high pressure and could across scandinavia, low pressure to the south, throwing this frontal system northwards. so we are going to see some showery rain across northern england and butland during friday. something dry following on from the south, albeit generally quite cloudy. although the skies to brighten across southern england and south wales later in the day, that could just spark off the odd hefty shower later on. those temperatures if anything beginning to climb a little bit. could get to 15 degrees in london, and not quite as chilly by this stage along those north sea coasts, and though that trend of things getting slowly warmer continues through the weekend. it won‘t be wall—to—wall sunshine, but i think there will be some brighter spells. equally a little bit of showery rain at times. so through the weekend, warming up slowly but surely. some sunshine, equally the

showers, but let me show you what happens next week. as we develop this southerly wind, and that is expected to what some really warming in our direction. we could well get into the low to possibly meet 20s. that will feel like spring i‘m babita sharma with bbc news. our top story: president trump warns russia to ‘get ready‘ for missile strikes against syria. it follows a suspected chemical attack on civilians. mr trump called the syrian president a "gas killing animal". britain‘s theresa may has summoned her cabinet for a special meeting to discuss uk participation alongside the us. more than 250 people have been killed in a military plane crash in algeria. most of the dead are military personnel and their family members. and the boss of facebook tells us lawmakers that his own personal data was compromised in the cambridge analytica breach. mr zuckerberg had earlier apologised for having failed to check in 2015 that cambridge analytica had deleted information gathered about millions of facebook users.

that‘s all from me now. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news it‘s time for hardtalk.